Someone Like Me
by Extreme Light 9
Summary: AU. Stella had heard many stories about a bird who was exiled from their village fifteen years ago and one day she goes to look for him with her friends, but she soon finds out that the things she'd heard about him might not have been true.
1. First Encounter

**Chapter 1 – First Encounter**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with a new AB fic. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Angry Birds.**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Guys, are you sure we should be doing this?" Willow asked nervously.

"Of course! C'mon Willow, aren't you at least a bit curious?" Poppy muttered.

"W-Well yeah, but this is the forbidden part of the forest. You know we aren't supposed to be here. We might get in trouble." The pigeon stated anxiously.

"No we won't, as long as we don't tell anyone about it." She replied.

Stella smiled as she listened to her two friends chattering while focusing on the map. They should be near the exile's home by now.

All their lives, Stella and her friends heard so many stories about birds like Mighty Eagle who was said to be the protector of their island. Then there was also the exile who interested Stella the most. He was said to be an unusual and mysterious bird who left their village fifteen years ago and never came back. Some say he's dangerous to be around, but all the adults refused to tell them why.

Of course after hearing about this enigmatic bird for so long, Stella's curiously got the best of her and she finally decided to seek him out. She managed to convince her two friends to come along. While Willow was somewhat reluctant about it, Poppy shared the same amount of excitement as Stella. This could be their chance at finding an adventure!

"Stella, are we there yet? We've been walking for so long." Poppy asked tiredly.

"If I'm reading this right, we should probably be there soon…" the pink bird and her two friends suddenly stopped in their tracks when they came across an old wooden sign in their path.

 _ **GO AWAY!**_

Stella shared an uneasy look with her two friends.

"We should probably listen to it and go home." Willow said nervously.

"After getting this far? No way!" Poppy exclaimed.

Stella stared at the ominous sign for a moment in consideration before turning to her friends. "Poppy is right, Willow. We can't turn back now." she then smiled at her. "Don't worry, if anything bad happens we'll go home, okay?"

Willow hesitantly smiled back and nodded. "Alright,"

Wasting no more time, the three girls walked passed the sign, ignoring the warning it had.

But as they continued going in that direction, they stumbled upon more signs.

 _ **TURN AROUND AND LEAVE!**_

 _ **YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE.**_

 _ **YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.**_

The three felt their uneasiness grow with each passing minute.

"Man, this guy sure likes his privacy," Poppy joked, trying to hide her own nervousness and failing.

Stella was really starting to wonder if they were making a mistake, if she might be putting the three of them in danger, but as soon as those thoughts came she quickly pushed them at the back her of mind. No, they couldn't go back. Not after coming this far, not after all time they spent to find this place.

Swallowing back her fear, Stella glanced at her friends. "Let's keep going," she said determinately and started walking again.

She made her way through the bushes and saw that they reached a clearing, but that wasn't surprised her.

There was a small white house at the edge of the clearing, looking like it had been there for a long time.

"Is this the place?" Willow asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, I think so," Stella said, unable to hide her excitement anymore. They did it, this could be where the exile lives!

"But where is he? I don't see anybody here." Poppy muttered as she looked around.

"I don't know. Let's just keep an eye out, okay?" the pink bird replied, grinning.

Without a second thought, the three girls began approaching the house. Looking around curiously, Stella spotted a pile of broken branches and sticks on the ground. She raised an eye brow, trying to figure out why it was there. There was also an axe placed on a tree stump, but other than that there wasn't much to look at.

"What are you three doing here?"

The girls stiffened at the new voice. Slowly, they turned around to see a red bird glaring at them with his arms crossed. He looked slightly older than them with light brown eyes and big black eye brows. They had never seen him in the village before.

"Didn't you read the signs? You're not welcome here."

Stella snapped from her trance and felt herself squirm nervously under his hard gaze. She hadn't been expecting this. "S-Sorry, we just came from the village to look for the exile and-"

As soon as those words left her beak, the red bird scowled darkly and for a second she thought his feathers started glowing.

"Get out of here,"

"But-"

"I said get out!" he shouted angrily, sparks flaring in his hands. She didn't understand how it happened, but the next thing she knew the bird's hands were on fire.

The three screamed in panic and barely managed to jump out of the way when he threw a ball of flame at them. Stella scrambled to get away just in time to avoid the second ball of fire, but Poppy wasn't fast enough and it grazed her arm.

"Ahh!" she cried out and fell to her knees.

"Poppy!" Stella and Willow exclaimed and hurried to her side.

Stella scowled and glared at the red bird, ready to shout at him for hurting her friend, but she stopped herself when she saw look of the horror and guilt on his face, like he just realized what he had done.

But he quickly shook himself from the shock and glared at them again. "Get out of here and never come back!" he growled.

Helping their friend stand up, the three wasted no time running away from him. Stella glanced back at the red bird one last time before following her two friends.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

"What were you guys thinking!?" Dahlia scolded as she tended to Poppy's injury. Luckily, it wasn't anything too serious and she managed to treat it easily.

"I'm sorry, Dahlia. It's my fault. Going to the forbidden part of the island was my idea," Stella said guiltily.

"It's okay, Stella. It doesn't hurt that much. Besides, if there's anyone to blame than it's that jerk for attacking us like that." Poppy said reassuringly.

"You three should have known better than to go there. Everyone knows the exile is evil and dangerous. The way he attacked you is enough proof of that." Dahlia stated.

But Stella was reminded again of the look of guilt on the red bird's face when he burned her friend and she couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tried. It didn't make any sense. If he really was a horrible cruel bird then why did he look so guilty, so ashamed of what he did?

She had to know. She had to see him again.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	2. Red

**Chapter 2 – Red**

 **A/N: Thank you for all the reviews!**

 **This is the same chapter from before, but I fixed a couple of things in it.**

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 _This is crazy._ Stella thought while hiding behind a bush, watching the red bird's house from a safe distance. Sneaking back to the forbidden place without her friends noticing was a lot harder than Stella had thought, but now after she pulled it off she began regretting her decision.

What was she thinking? Why was she back here after what happened?

But Stella already knew why and groaned. It was her own curiosity and desire for answers that brought her here. She wanted to learn more about the red bird, she wanted to talk him. Maybe if she explained herself better to him then he won't attack her this time.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of wood chopping coming from behind the house. Curious, Stella quietly made her way there and peeked around the corner to find the red bird chopping wood on the tree stump with his axe.

Stella watched him for a moment and tried to get closer only to step on a small log she didn't see and fall on her back with a loud yelp.

"Ow!" she muttered, wincing slightly.

"Who's there?" there was the sound of footsteps for a moment and then the red bird was standing right before her.

"You again? Haven't you learned anything from last time?" he asked, glaring down at her.

"W-Wait, I just came to talk," Stella tried to reason.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." He said sarcastically.

Scowling in irritation, Stella quickly stood up and glared back at him. "Look, I know what we did yesterday was wrong and I'm sorry, okay? We should've listened and never came here, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook. You burned my friend!" she said accusingly.

The red bird flinched and looked down at his feet with the same look of guilt from before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. Is...she okay?"

Stella was taken aback by the concern and shame in his voice. "She's fine, don't worry." She answered, unsure of what else to say. "Look, how about we start over. My name is Stella. What's your name?"

"I'm Red,"

Stella blinked at the odd name, but then smiled at him. "Well, nice to meet you Red-" She said and then something wet fall on her. The two looked up to see dark clouds covering the sky. They both could tell it was going to rain soon.

The pink bird panicked. She had been so focused on getting here that she didn't notice the weather changing. "I-I gotta go," she said before turning around to leave.

"Wait!"

Stella looked back to Red. "What is it?"

"The village is half an hour from here. You won't make it there before the rain falls down." He stated and Stella grimaced, knowing he was right.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked helplessly.

"You could come inside my house…if you want." He finished awkwardly.

Stella was surprised by the offer and thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay, thanks."

Wasting no time, Red led her inside his house and closed the door behind them. Stella could only stare in awe at everything she saw. There were sculptures, small statues and many other crafts all over the house.

Stella turned to Red. "Did you make all of these?"

"I have a lot of free time," he shrugged.

"They're amazing, Red." She said breathlessly as she held a wooden bird statute.

Red blinked at the praise and looked away, unsure of what to say to her. No one complimented his work before. "You really think so?" he asked.

Stella raised an eyebrow in puzzlement and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Red looked flustered for a moment before composing himself again. "Thanks,"

The two had stayed silent after that. Red grabbed a knife and began carving a piece of wood while Stella watched the rain drops hitting against the window.

"Ouch!" Red suddenly yelped.

Stella looked back to see Red holding out his hand and she could see a cut on his palm. She quickly went to check on him. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"I'll be fine, it's just a small cut." He said.

"No, we gotta treat that. Where's the first aid kit?" she asked firmly.

"On top of that shelf," Red said.

Stella immediately went to grab it and came back to him, pulling him down to treat his injury.

"You need to be more careful," Stella said as she wrapped his hand with bandages.

Red snorted. "Said the girl who went to the forbidden parts of the forest with her friends to look for a supposedly psychotic bird."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Fine, you got me there." She said and finished bandaging his hand. It was then she noticed how warm Red's hand was. It was a lot warmer than hers. Was he always like this or did it have something to do with the fire had made yesterday?

"Um…are you gonna let go of my hand or…." Red said awkwardly, snapping her from her musings. She quickly let go of his hand.

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly.

"You're really weird," he noted.

"So are you," she replied, punching his shoulder playfully.

Red sighed and then noticed how cold it was getting. "Wait here, I'm gonna make us something warm to drink." He said as he lead her to a table before making his way to the kitchen.

While she waited for him, Stella gazed around the house. It looked like a cozy place to live in, but also a little…lonely.

Now that she thought about it, there were a lot of things about Red that she didn't consider. How did he feel about living alone here? Why did the birds in the village think so badly of him? He had been nothing, but nice to her so far.

"Here you go," Red said as he placed a mug in front of her before sitting down with his own.

"Thanks," she stuttered and took a sip from her drink.

She then watched Red and tried comparing the bird in front of her with the one she expected to find, a hideous bird with a scar on his face and a cold look in his eyes.

Red noticed her silence and frowned. "What's wrong? You don't like it?"

Stella quickly shook her head. "No, no. It's really good."

Red raised an eye brow, but didn't say anything.

"You know, Red. You're a lot different from what they made you out to be." She said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, in all those stories and rumors I heard they always made you look like a bad guy. I thought so too." She said guiltily. They even used him as an excuse to keep kids away from the forest. "But now I see you're actually a nice guy." She quickly added.

Red stared at her wide eyed for a moment before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "Thanks, Stella," he then glanced down at his mug with a distant look in his eyes. "But you weren't completely wrong though."

Stella looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"I may not be evil, but I am dangerous to be around." He stated seriously.

Stella's eyes widen. "Red, don't say that!"

"Look, you saw what I did back there yesterday. When I get angry I can't control myself and I end up hurting people. I shouldn't even be talking to you right now." He explained impatiently.

Stella frowned. "There's gotta be a way to fix this."

"Well I tried, for a long time, but nothing really worked." Red stated and stood up from his chair. "Look Stella, It's been great talking to you, but now you have to leave. And don't come back."

Stella wanted to protest at this, but stopped when she saw the look of finality he was giving her.

"Fine, I'll go." she said in defeat.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

The pink bird slowly made her way out of the house once the rain stopped.

She looked back to Red who was standing in doorway with a troubled expression on his face.

Stella gave him sad smile and waved at him. Red blinked in surprise before smiling a little and waved back at her.

With that, she turned around and began her trek back to the village. As she walked down the forest path, Stella glanced back to see the small white house disappear in the trees, for what could be the last time.

The pink bird sighed dejectedly and felt her eyes glaze over. How could she just give up? How could she just leave someone she could consider a friend behind like that?

 _There has to has to be a way for me to help him, there has to be-_ and that's when an idea hit her.

Without a second thought, Stella hurried back to the village.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think of this with a review!**


	3. The Plan

**Chapter 3 – The Plan**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this chapter took some time, but I hope you enjoy it.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Red was sleeping soundly in his bed when he suddenly woke up to the sound of knocking on his door. Red stared at the door in confusion for a moment before going over to open it, wondering who could it be.

He was greeted with the sight of a familiar pink bird, smiling at him.

"Stella!? What're you doing? I thought I told you to stay away from here!" Red muttered.

"But I found a way to help you with your anger!" Stella stated excitedly.

Red stared at her for a moment and then groaned. "Stella, we already went over this. I spent years trying to get it under control, but nothing worked."

"Did you ever try getting help?" she asked.

Red blinked. "Well, no-"

"Exactly! You never had the right kind of help in this place, something I can assist you with."

"But what about the village? If they find out what you're doing you'll be in so much trouble," Red argued.

"Don't worry, no one is gonna find out." Stella assured him.

Red rubbed his temples. "You're not gonna stop until I let you do this, are you?"

"Yup!" she smirked.

Red sighed and couldn't help, but smile a little. "Alright, so what's your plan?"

"I've done some asking around yesterday and I found out there's a lady named Matilda who teaches an anger management class. Maybe she might be able to help you with your anger problem." Stella explained.

"But how am I supposed to see her? I'm not allowed to go back to the village." Red asked.

"You don't have to. I'll attend her class for you and teach you whatever I learn from there." She answered and waited to see what he thought of that.

Red thought about it for a moment and then glanced at her. "Do you think it'll work?"

Stella shrugged. "Well, it's worth a shot."

Red sighed again and nodded at her. "Okay, let's do it."

"Great! I should be going now. Class is gonna start soon." She said and turned around to leave.

"Hey, Stella?"

She stopped and looked back at him. "What's wrong?'

"Why are you trying so hard to help me?" _Why are you being so nice to me?_ Was what he really wanted to ask. He just couldn't understand. They barely knew each other and yet she was doing everything she can to help him control his temper.

"Well I have to. You're my friend, right?" she said, but deep down she wasn't sure if he thought the same for her.

"Yeah, I guess," he stated awkwardly. "Thanks."

The pink bird grinned at him before hurrying back to the village.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

It didn't take Stella long until she found the address. She knocked the door and waited for a moment until it was opened by a white hen.

"Oh hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Stella. I'm here to join your class." She said smiling.

"Oh, really? That's great!" Matilda said excitedly. "I'm always happy to have someone new here. Come in." she said as she led her to a room where three birds were waiting for them.

"Hey everyone, we have a new student in class today." Matilda announced cheerfully.

"I'm Stella. It's nice to meet you," she stated.

"I'm Bomb!" the black bird exclaimed.

"Name's Chuck and this guy here is Terrance." The yellow canary said and gestured to the large red bird next to him.

"Okay, now how about you take a seat so we could start today's lesson." Matilda said.

"Alright," Stella said and sat next to Terrance. She suddenly felt the larger bird's gaze on her and looked up at him. "Oh hi, is something wrong?" she asked, but he kept glaring down at her. Gulping, Stella could almost feel his eyes cutting right through her and she found herself inching closer to Chuck.

"Alright, let's begin!" Matilda said.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The next few days were spent like this. Once class was over, Stella would head back to Red's house. She'd tell him about everything that happened and show him some of the techniques she learned like deep breathing and such.

When they weren't working on his temper, Stella would share some stories about her life and friends, all the things they did together and the situations they got into which would always make them both burst into laughter, but whenever Stella would ask him about his life when used to live in the village, Red would clam up and change the subject, much to her confusion.

One time while he was making a wooden figure he asked her if she wanted to learn how to make one and she agreed without hesitation.

"There! What do you think?" she asked as she placed the figure on the table, wiping sweat from her forehead. It may took her three hours, but it was finally done.

"That's a nice fish," Red said.

Stella frowned. "It's supposed to be a bird,"

Red blinked owlishly at her. "Really? But it looks like a fish to me-"

"It's my first try. Give me a break!" she snapped, crossing her arms defensively.

"Alright, Alright. Bird it is then," Red said with a chuckle.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next morning, Matilda had left the four to run an errand and said she'd coming back soon. In the middle of her boredom, Stella took out her notebook and decided to draw something. She taped the pencil against her beak for a moment thoughtfully and then decided to draw Red, putting as many details she can on it.

Once she was done she held out the sketch in front her face, admiring her work.

"Hey Stella, what are you doing?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, just drawing."

"Cool, can I see?" Chuck didn't even wait for her to answer as he snatched the book from her hands, but his smile immediately fell when he saw what she drew. "Stella, where have you seen this bird?" he asked in surprise along with something that she couldn't figure out.

"N-Nowhere, I totally made him up!" Stella lied nervously. "Why are you asking anyway?"

"Nothing, it's just reminded me of something," Chuck stated and gave her the book back, his face unreadable.

When it was time to leave, Stella groaned as she thought back to what she did. She had promised Red that no one will know about their meetings and yet her own carelessness almost jeopardized their secret. When she went to meet up with Red, Stella avoided mentioning the incident to him. She didn't want him to worry or panic especially since no harm was done.

It was later that day when was on her way back that the pink bird came across an unexpected sight. Dahlia, Poppy, Willow and Gale were standing in front of her house waiting for her.

"Oh finally, I was getting tired of waiting." Poppy exclaimed.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" she asked confused.

"We came to talk to you," Dahlia answered.

"Okay…let's go inside then," Stella muttered. She didn't know why, but something about this made her feel uneasy. The five made their way inside to the living room and sat down. "So, what did guys want to talk about?"

The four exchanged looks with each other and then Gale asked. "Stella, where have you been going lately?"

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Well, that was bound to happen. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Fifteen Years Ago

**Chapter 4 – Fifteen Years Ago**

 **A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the great reviews. I appreciate it!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stella felt her blood run cold as her four friends stared at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. "W-What are you guys talking about?" she laughed nervously.

Gale rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! Don't play dumb, darling. We know you're hiding something from us."

Poppy nodded. "Yeah, you've been leaving the village almost every day and never come back for hours."

"We barely see you anymore," Willow added and Stella felt a bang of guilt for ignoring her friends' feelings. She hadn't meant for them to feel this way.

"Look guys, it's nothing you should be worried about." Stella sighed.

"Then at least give us an idea of what you've doing, Stella. We only wish to know." Dahlia stated.

Stella averted her eyes to the floor, unsure of what to say. She knew her friends were just worried and were looking out for her, but she couldn't tell them about Red. She had promised him that she wouldn't. What if Red felt betrayed if she told them? What if he didn't want to see her again? Stella shuddered at the thought. She couldn't imagine him hating her after getting so close to him.

 _Maybe it'd be okay if I told them some of the truth._

"Okay fine, I'll tell you." She said and the four girls perked up at this. "I met a guy a couple of days ago while I was walking in the forest and we've been hanging out together ever since." She explained, hoping it was convincing enough.

When she glanced up at her friends she was surprised when she saw them staring at her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked in confusion. It was then when she noticed the sly knowing look on Gale's face that it finally dawned her what was going on in their heads. "Wait no, it's not what you think!" she stammered, but her words fell on deaf ears as Poppy let out an excited scream and hugged her tightly.

"Ooh, Stella I can't believe it! You're actually dating someone? How could you not tell us about that?" Poppy exclaimed.

"That's because we're not dating! He's just a friend of mine!" Stella stated, feeling her cheeks reddening.

"They all say that," Gale muttered.

"Guys, really. He doesn't feel that way about me and I don't either." Stella said as firmly as possible.

"But you two might change your minds later." she replied and Stella glared at her.

"What's his name?" Dahlia asked curiously.

Stella huffed "I'm not gonna tell you guys his name so you could pester him."

"Who said we're gonna pester him?" Poppy asked.

Stella gave her a look.

"Fine, maybe just a little." She admitted.

"At least tell us what he's like, darling," Gale said impatiently.

Stella didn't see anything wrong with that so she complied. "Well, he's really talented. He can be gruff and grumpy sometimes, but he's also really nice when he wants to be and he cares a lot despite how much he tries to hide it." She said almost fondly.

"He sounds like a great guy." Willow said with a smile.

"He is, but that doesn't mean I have a thing for him!" Stella added quickly before Gale and Poppy could start again.

"Oh, we'll see about that," Gale said slyly.

Stella grabbed the closest pillow and flung it at her friend in annoyance.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey Red, can I ask you something?" Stella asked while they were sitting on the porch of his house, watching the sun setting.

"Sure," Red muttered without looking at her.

"Do you ever….miss living in the village?" she asked with hesitation.

This time Red turned to her looking confused. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just something that I always wondered about." She admitted sheepishly.

"Well to be honest with you, no, not really." Red shrugged, but Stella frowned at him. "Okay, maybe sometimes."

"And do you wish to go back?" she asked carefully.

Red sighed. "Look even if did want to go back, nobody is gonna be happy with seeing me. Besides, my life wasn't really that great anyway."

Stella raised an eye brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I used to get bullied a lot back when I lived there. All the other kids in school would make fun of my eyebrows and call me stuff like ugly or freak. The things they said, the way they treated me, it always angered me." He said bitterly as his feathers began radiating heat and sparks started appearing on his clutched fists.

"Red, you're getting mad." Stella muttered as she backed away slightly.

"Oh, sorry," Red said once he realized that. He took a deep breath and release it. His body slowly stopped glowing and the heat around him was gone. "The way I was treated actually had something to do with how I ended up here. You see, I tried to ignore those birds who bullied and picked me for a long time. But after a while, I couldn't take it anymore and I lashed out. I don't remember what happened after that, but the next thing I know there were four injured birds and three houses on fire around me."

"And that's when the bird council decided I was a menace and banished me to this place." Red said with a distant look in his eyes.

"But you did have a friend at some point right?" the pink bird asked. She didn't know why it sounded so desperate.

Red's face became downcast. "I had two, but….they didn't want anything to do with me after what I did."

Stella felt her heart swell in sympathy and she looked down at her feet in thought. The two fell into complete silence afterwards. Neither of them knew what to say after that confession.

"I don't really think you're a freak, Red." She said suddenly, finally breaking the silence that hung between them.

Red scoffed. "C'mon, you're just saying that because you're my friend."

"I mean it, Red. I told you before, you're nothing like I imagined you'd be. Even on the first day we met I didn't think you were a freak. In fact, your eyebrows make you kind of…." Stella trailed off as she tried to think of the right word.

"Kind of what?" Red asked impatiently with a raised brow.

"Adorable," she finally said.

Red stared at her for a moment and somehow the feathers on his face grew even redder than before. "No, I'm not!" he stammered bashfully.

"Yeah, you are."

"Shut up!" Red grumbled, burying his face in his hands, flustered. Stella couldn't help giggling at the sight.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: For anyone who is interested here are the ages of the main characters in this fic.**

 **Red: 29**

 **Stella: 24**

 **Chuck: 26**

 **Bomb: 28**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	5. Shattered

**Chapter 5 – Shattered**

 **A/N: Here we are, guys. We've reached the climax of the story. Thanks for your continued support and reviews.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Angry Birds.**

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Stella groaned at the blaring sound of her alarm clock and rolled over in annoyance. Finally, she reached out and turned off before sitting up and began stretching a little.

Soon enough, a big smile replaced her frown as she remembered her plans for today. Red said he had something to show her and she was excited to see what it is.

Wasting no time, the pink bird hurriedly ate her breakfast before heading out of her house towards the forest.

She wasn't aware of the four pairs of eyes watching her from the bushes. "Guys, I don't think we should be doing this," Willow said, timidly.

"Oh don't be a killjoy, Willow! What could happen?" Poppy asked with a smile.

"The last time we did something that we shouldn't do we got attacked by a fire bird." Willow huffed and Poppy flinched.

"O-Okay true, but that was one time!" she muttered.

"I have to agree with Willow on this. We shouldn't be spying on Stella. She'll be mad if she finds out about this." Dahlia stated.

"She doesn't have to find out, Dahlia. Besides, don't you wanna see who she's dating?" Gale replied.

"But Stella said she wasn't dating him."

"She's just in denial." Gale said, dismissively. "Now let's hurry up."

With that, Gale went after Stella with Poppy not far behind. Willow and Dahlia shared uneasy looks before following their two friends.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

Red was in the middle of carving another figurine when he saw Stella walking towards him and smiled.

"Hi Red!"

"Hey, Stella," he said and then set the figurine down. "You ready to go?"

"Of course!" Stella exclaimed, but then noticed the familiar pile of broken branches. She always wondered what the story behind it was. "Hey Red, what's that?"

Red followed her gaze and immediately grimaced. "Oh, uh, you see when I get mad I used to….break stuff."

She raised an eye brow awkwardly. "Did it help?"

"A little….it mostly helped me let out my frustration, but I still didn't feel any better afterwards." He then smiled at her. "But I don't do that anymore thanks to what you taught me."

Stella felt a bubble of pride inside her and smiled back, glad she managed to help him.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Let's go!" she exclaimed and the two began making their way deeper into the forest.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, the four girls had lost sight of Stella before she even entered the forbidden part of the forest and now they were wandering around without any idea where to go. "Are you sure she went this way?" Poppy asked.

"I don't know! You should've kept an eye on her!" Gale groaned in frustration.

"Hey, it was you who slowed us down because you didn't want to risk tiring yourself!" Poppy snapped and Gale glared at her.

"That's enough you two!" Dahlia interfered. "Let's just turn around and go home." She said with a sigh. The two girls nodded in defeat and were about to head back when Willow suddenly spoke.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?"

The three froze and sure enough, they could hear voices somewhere nearby.

"I think it's coming from over there," Poppy said and the four quietly made their way towards the noises, peering through the plants.

 _Nothing_ could've prepared them for what they saw next.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Whoa," Stella said breathlessly at the sight of the huge lake in front of her. She moved closer and gazed down at the crystal clear water, watching all the colorful fish swimming freely there. "This place is amazing!" she exclaimed.

"I know, I found it a few years ago while I was looking for fire wood. I've been coming here whenever I can ever since." Red grinned. The two sat there in peaceful silence for a few minutes, but it wasn't long until it was broken by a loud shriek.

"STELLA!?"

The two stiffened and looked back to see the four girls staring at them with absolute horror.

"G-Guys!?" Stella stammered.

"Stella, what's going on here?" Poppy said in confusion.

"Why are you hanging out _him_!?" Poppy gaped.

"Why would wanna be anywhere near that freak?" Gale huffed.

Red felt mortification and dread fill him. Unable to take it anymore, he turned around and ran away from them.

"Red, wait!" Stella shouted desperately, but it was no use. He was gone. Scowling, Stella turned to her friends. "What are you guys doing!?"

"Us!? What are _you_ doing? Why are you with the exile?" Willow said in disbelief. Gale and Dahlia who didn't who Red was until now, gasped in shock.

Stella sighed. "Look, I can explain. After Poppy, you and I talked with Dahlia, I went back to confront him-"

"You went back there after that jerk attacked us?" Poppy muttered.

Stella glared at her. "Okay first of all, his name is Red. Second, Yes I did and he apologized for what he done."

"But you can't seriously want to hang out with that guy. He's horrible and dangerous. He's gonna hurt you as soon as he gets the chance!" Gale exclaimed angrily.

That did it. Stella clutched her fists and finally snapped. "You're all hypocrites!"

The four fell into silence after that, staring at their friend with wide eyes.

"When I told you guys what he's like and what we did together, you thought he was so great and even assumed we were dating, but once you found just who he was exactly you're all act like jerks towards him." Stella said furiously. The four glanced at each, looking at a loss of words.

The pink bird didn't wait for a response and turned around to leave.

"S-Stella, where are you going?" Willow stuttered.

"I'm gonna look for Red and don't try to stop me." She said with a tone of finality.

"But Stella, if the bird council finds out about this, you'll be punished harshly," Dahlia stated worriedly.

Stella stopped and thought about that. Then she thought about Red who had been nothing, but nice to her ever since they got to know each other and would look so happy whenever she was around.

"I don't care,"

Were her last words before she ran down the forest path after her friend.

"Red, can you hear me? Red!" She started calling out. "I'm sorry about my friends, they didn't mean it. Please come out," she said, hoping to get any sign of where he is, but no matter where she looked she saw nothing, but trees.

Suddenly, there was weird buzzing sound coming from behind her. Confused, she looked back to see a large insect flying towards her.

"Ah, get away!" she yelped as she tried to swat it away, but it only moves closer to her and she suddenly felt sharp pain in her arm.

"Ow!" she cried out and swatted it away, landing on the ground motionless. She then reached for the spot where stinger was and removed it.

That's when the pout of dizziness came and Stella staggered a little. When she glanced down at the insect she realized it wasn't anything she saw before. It looked like a wasp, but its color were all wrong. Instead of the usual, it was green with black stripes.

The pink bird's vision then became blurry and she could barely keep herself standing.

"What's happening…?"

Without warning, Stella's knees suddenly buckled up and she lost consciousness.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Red ran as fast as he could through the trees, wanting to get from everyone, from everything. A few tree branches wiped him in the face, but he didn't stop.

After a while, Red hid behind a tree and tried to catch his breath, his mind drifting back to what happened just now. Just for once, everything had going great for him. Why couldn't it stay that way?

He had been alone for so long and just wanted a friend. He thought things will be different this time, but now look what happened. Stella got into trouble with her friends and she probably will be punished by the birds in the village.

And it was all his fault.

It's been fifteen years and yet nothing changed. Red still somehow finds a way to hurt people around him. _It's all a freak like me could do._

Just then, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. It was Stella, she was looking for him.

Red screwed his eyes shut and hoped she won't find him. He didn't want to cause her any more trouble than he already did, but then his eyes opened up when he heard her cry out in pain.

"Stella?" he said in concern as he moved away from his hiding spot. He looked around for a moment and gasped when he saw her lying on the ground unconscious. "Stella! Are you okay? Wake up," he muttered as he shook her lightly, but nothing he did worked. She wouldn't wake up.

It was then he noticed the huge wasp not far from her. It was about an inch and half tall and he grimaced at the sight of it, but it was all he needed to figure out what happened.

"What should I do? What should I do?" Red muttered in panic. He could take her to his house, but then what? He didn't have anything to cure whatever the insect did to her. He needed a doctor.

Red gulped when finally realized what he'll have to do.

 _I need to go back to the village._

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Not knowing what else to do, Stella's friends were on their way back home once they were sure that the pink bird wasn't going to change her mind.

"I can't believe that actually happened," Poppy said, breaking the silence that hung between them.

Gale who was fuming the entire way back, spoke up. "I know, right? How could she leave us like that to look for that freak!?"

Willow frowned thoughtfully. "You know, Stella has been meeting this guy for days, but he never tried to hurt her once. You don't think…"

Gale scoffed. "Oh don't be ridiculous darling, there's no way that guy is anything, but bad news."

"But-"

"Hey, what's that?" Poppy suddenly exclaimed.

The girls suddenly stopped and glanced over to see a familiar red bird in the distance carrying something pink in his arms.

"Hold on, is that….STELLA!?" Willow cried out.

"I knew it!" Gale screeched.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Red hurried down the forest path towards the village. He didn't know why, but he could feel himself getting more nervous with every passing second. He hadn't been there for a long time and didn't know what to expect.

Soon enough, the village came into view. Red moved closer to the bushes and peered through them.

It was the same as he remembered.

Red felt nostalgia hit him as he found himself recognizing some of the houses and huts around. This was the place he spent his childhood in, where he was born.

But then he noticed some new houses and places that he couldn't recall being there before and he felt a bang of sadness inside him. So much he had missed, so much he wasn't there to witness.

The heavy weight in his arms snapped him from his trance and reminded him of the task at hand. Trying to ignore the feeling of apprehension within him, Red steeled himself and quickly began making his way into the village.

Looking around, Red didn't see any birds nearby. Good, he could search without causing a scene or risk meeting someone who would recognize him.

It took him about two minutes until he spotted a familiar looking sign and quickly barged in, startling the doctor.

"Hey, what are you doing-" the doctor tried to say, but Red cut him off.

"Sir, I need your help," he said urgently. The doctor noticed the pink birds his arms and the state she was in. He put on a professional look. "Put her on the bed, gently," he said and Red quickly did as he was told.

The doctor hastily grabbed a clipboard and turned back to Red. "Now tell me what happened,"

"Well, I-" before Red could begin explaining the door was slammed open and Stella's friends came inside.

"There you are," Poppy quickly grabbed the closest thing to her which was a book and began smacking Red with it. "How could you hurt her, you monster!"

Dahlia, Gale and Willow stood at the doorway watching their friend awkwardly. "Uh, Poppy?" Willow spoke up, but she wasn't listening.

"She actually trusted you!" Poppy exclaimed as she continued her assault while Red tried to shield himself from her.

"Ow, quit it! I didn't hurt her. She was stung by a green wasp!" Red said in annoyance.

"Liar, like we're gonna believe that-"

"Wait a minute, did you say a green wasp?" the doctor interrupted with look of alarm on his face.

"Uh, yeah," Red said as Poppy stopped hitting him, much to his relief. The doctor turned around and started searching frantically through his books until he found the one he was looking for.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Dahlia asked, worried.

"I'm afraid your friend is in grave danger," the doctor sighed and everyone gasped.

"What!?"

"But why?" Poppy asked.

"You see, green wasps are rare to see in these parts of the island, but the poison in their stingers is very lethal," he answered gravely.

"Isn't there anything that can help her?" Willow asked desperately.

The doctor hesitated. "Well, I know of a cure, but it's not easy to obtain."

"What do you mean?" Red asked, confused.

He pulled out a map and spread it on the table for Red to see. "There is a type of flowers that I need in order to make the cure, but they're only found in a swamp under the mountain. However, getting there is difficult and not safe." He explained.

Red stared at the map for a moment and then at Stella who lay motionless on the bed. "I'll go," he said, getting surprised looks from everyone in the room.

"Are you sure?" the doctor asked and Red nodded. "Alright, then you're going to need this." He rolled up the map after marking the place and put it inside a bag. He then tore the page about the flower from the book and placed it there as well before passing the bag to Red. "Good luck,"

"Thanks," Red muttered before making his way outside.

"Wait!"

Red stopped and looked back to see Willow and the other girls approaching him. "Be careful, okay?"

Red smiled a little. "I will and I just realized I didn't get the chance to apologize for attacking you." He then turned to Poppy. "And I'm sorry for burning your arm. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody." He said guiltily.

Poppy was taken aback by this. "I-It's fine, it didn't hurt that much. Besides, I just smacked you with a book repeatedly so I guess we're even." She said in embarrassment.

"Right," he chuckled and then turned around to leave. The four girls watched the red bird walk away until he was out of sight.

"You know, he's not really as bad as I thought," Gale said suddenly and the others found themselves agreeing with that.

Around the same time, Chuck was humming softly to himself when he suddenly spotted a cardinal bird heading towards the forest. Something about him felt familiar and Chuck couldn't shake the feeling that he should know that bird.

It took him a moment until a memory of a red bird he once known came to mind and Chuck felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"No way…" he murmured in disbelief. Without a second thought, Chuck dashed through the village as fast as he could until he saw Bomb.

"Bomb!" he shouted.

The black bird turned to him and smiled. "Oh hey Chuck, something you need?"

Chuck took a moment to catch his breath before answering him.

"I think…..I think I saw Red,"

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Red stopped in his tracks when he reached the edge of the forest. He then pulled out the map to see which direction he should go. Just when he was about to start running again an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Wait!"

Red looked over to see a yellow bird coming towards him at an incredible speed and stopped inches away from him.

"Red?" he said, unsure.

Red stiffened and glared at him. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"C'mon Red, try to remember. It's me." The canary said, hopefully.

Red's eye brows furrowed as he stared at the bird in confusion before it finally clicked and his eyes widen. A large black bird then came panting next to the canary which only confirmed his thoughts.

"Chuck? Bomb?" Red muttered in disbelief.

"Hey, Red. You haven't changed a bit." Bomb stated, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"How did you know I was here?" Red asked.

"We saw you leave the doctor's office. He and the others told us what you're doing so we followed you."

"But why? Why are you here?" Red asked seriously.

Bomb and Chuck flinched and looked at each other guilty.

"Look Red...I…we….didn't…it's not…" Bomb stuttered as he tried to find the words to say. "We're sorry, Red. We're so sorry." He finally said, tears welling up in his eyes. Chuck's eyes gone misty too.

"T-The day you were banished, we knew what they were doing was wrong, we k-knew that you didn't mean what you did, b-but we didn't stand up for you because…because we were afraid." Bomb said, his voice cracking with emotion. "That power you had came out of nowhere a-and we were so confused and scared…we could've said something to change their minds, b-but instead we just let them send you away!" he muttered, tearfully.

"We wanted to look for you Red, we really did, but we thought it was too late for that…there wasn't anything we could do to make up for what happened. And you probably hated us and we deserve it because we're horrible birds who couldn't be there for their friend when he needed them the most," Chuck admitted, looking down at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, Red."

Heavy silence came after that. No one said anything. The two waited for Red to yell at them. He had every right to be mad, every right to reject their apology and scorn them.

"You know….all this time I thought you guys hated me," Red finally spoken, shocking the two.

"What!? No! Red, we never hated you. You didn't do anything wrong. You should be the one hating us!" Chuck exclaimed.

"If I hated either of you I wouldn't be here listening to you right now. In fact…I'm glad I got to see you again," Red said with a smile, feeling his eyes glazing over.

Bomb couldn't take it anymore and swept the two into a tight hug. Red laughed, savoring the feeling as much as he can. This was what he longed for ever since he was exiled.

It was then he remembered why he was here and quickly pulled away. "What am I doing? I shouldn't waste any more time. Stella needs that cure right now!"

"Then let us go with you," Bomb said.

"Yeah, you're gonna need all the help you can get!" Chuck added excitedly.

Red stared at them for a moment and grinned. "Alright then, let's go!"

With that, the three birds began heading into the depths of the forest and despite what was up ahead, Red didn't feel all that scared.

They will get that cure, no matter what it takes.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: This was longest chapter so far and it took a lot of time to finish. I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter is the last so stay tuned.**

 **Please review!**


	6. You Are Home

**Chapter 6 – You Are Home**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this chapter took some time, but I was busy with college and I couldn't work on it. Anyway, we finally reached the end of this story. Thank you guys for all your support and reviews.**

 **Also, I would like to thank EndhozomGurl for making some fan art for my fic. Here's the link if you wanna go see it on deviantart. art/FanArt-Someone-Like-Me-Angry-Birds-648660458.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Angry Birds.**

 **Enjoy the final chapter of Someone Like Me!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Is this the place?" Bomb asked as they stared up at the edge of the marsh.

"Yeah, it's what the map says." Red answered as he folded the map and put it back inside the bag. "C'mon, let's keep going. We don't know how much time we have."

With that, the three began making their way through the swamp. Red had never been to a place like this before. Trees and murky water were everywhere and he shuddered when his feet sunk into the mud.

"Aw, gross!" Chuck whined as he tried to shake off the sludge off his foot.

"Hey now, it's not that bad, guys." Bomb stated optimistically though it was obvious he wasn't comfortable with the situation either.

Suddenly, Chuck lost his balance and fell on all fours, getting some sludge on his feathers. "Oh c'mon!"

"Are you okay?" Bomb asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chuck replied, standing up again.

Red didn't know why, but he found himself snorting at the sight and getting weird looks from his friends.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Chuck asked with narrowed eyes.

"S-Sorry, it-it's just your face!" Red said, laughing. Chuck touched his face and realized he gotten some mud on it too.

Chuck smirked. "Oh, well since you think it's THAT funny. Let's see how you like this!" he quickly scooped some sludge and flung it at Red, hitting him right in the shoulder.

"Okay, okay. I deserved that." Red said between chuckles. It felt good, to be able goof around with his friends again after so long.

After marching through the mud for ten minutes, Red, Chuck and Bomb reached some dry land, much to their relief.

"Alright guys, keep your eyes peeled. They should be here somewhere," Red muttered. Wasting no time, the three began searching the marsh for any sign of the flowers that the doctor had mentioned.

Red sighed as he looked around, but he saw nothing expect trees. He did come across some flowers, but none of them matched the description in the book.

Red couldn't help feeling uneasy just by being here, like something was watching him from every direction. He quickly shook his head to rid himself from these thoughts. Now was not the time to be paranoid. They had to get those flowers to save Stella.

Just then, Red tensed when heard a strange rumbling noise, but it sounded too far away for him to figure out where it came from. Scratching his head in confusion, he shrugged and kept moving forward.

He then spotted something sticking out behind some shrubs. Curious, the cardinal bird peered behind them and immediately regret it.

Bones, they were bones scattered on the ground. Red felt a chill run down his spine and he found himself backing away as he recalled the doctor's warning about this place. Red's new discovery only confirmed it. Something lived here in this swamp, something that made this place feared and avoided by birds.

Red wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what it was.

Without hesitation, Red turned around and hurried back to his friends. "Guys, how about we go look somewhere else. I don't think we're gonna find anything here." He said nervously, wanting to steer them away from here. Luckily, Chuck and Bomb didn't argue and started heading deeper into the marsh.

Red glanced at the shrubs one last time and gulped, trying ignore the nagging feeling in back of his mind.

The three continued searching for an hour, but all their efforts ended up fruitless so far. "I don't get it! I thought this place would be filled with them!" Red growled angrily as scanned the map for clues. Maybe they missed something or took a wrong turn.

"Well, they ARE supposed to be really rare and this swamp is a lot bigger than the doc made it out to be. It might take us hours before we even find one." Bomb said with frown.

Red sighed in frustration, knowing that his large friend was right. This might take more time than they previously thought, but that was the problem. They didn't have much time!

"Uh guys, the sun is gonna set soon and I don't know about you, but I really don't wanna spend the night here." Chuck muttered.

Red found himself silently agreeing. He didn't want to find out what might be lurking in shadows at night in this marsh.

Suddenly, the three were startled when they heard a low rumbling coming from somewhere nearby. Red recognized it as the sound he heard earlier, but it was much clear this time.

"W-What was that?" Chuck asked nervously, staring at the direction where noise came from.

Red exchanged confused looks with his friends before making their way towards it. They walked through some plants, listening as the steady noise grew louder and louder with every step they took. Finally, they reached an opening and looked over a huge rock, but none of them was prepared for the terrifying sight that awaits them.

"Guys….what am looking at right now," Bomb murmured shakily.

Red couldn't bring himself to answer his friend as he stared wide-eyed at the thing in front of them. It had the appearances of a bird which would have been pretty fine with the trio _if it weren't for the fact that it was ten times bigger them!_

It had pitch black feathers, a huge pair of wings, a feathery tail and an extremely long neck. The creature was sleeping on a nest made of dried branches and leaves. Red soon realized the sound they kept heard was its snoring.

"Man, and here I thought Terrance was the biggest bird on the island." Chuck said with strained smile.

"Who?" Red asked confused.

"Uh…never mind." Chuck said, dismissively.

"Guys, look!" Bomb said suddenly.

Red and Chuck looked beyond the sleeping creature to see a large patch of flowers with blue and red petals. The ones they were looking for.

"Are you kidding me? There of all places!?" Chuck groaned quietly. "What do we do now?"

"We could try talking to it. Maybe it's friendly." Bomb suggested hopefully.

"Bomb, look at that thing. Nothing about it looks friendly!" Chuck scoffed, pointing at the long sharp talons the bird had and some bones scattered around the nest.

Red frowned and thought for a moment before coming to a decision. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. Chuck and I will go fetch the flowers while Bomb stays and keeps an eye out for us in case something happens, got it?" he said and the two hesitantly nodded.

"Be careful, guys." Bomb muttered, watching nervously as his two friends quietly made their way towards the creature's nest.

Chuck gulped anxiously as they approached the nest, making sure not to make a sound and risk waking the monster up. He felt like they were walking on eggshells and even the sound of his own footsteps felt too loud to him. He could tell Red was on edge too.

Soon enough, the two reached the patch of flowers. Red knelt down and took off the bag he was carrying, ready to grab some when Chuck suddenly spoke.

"Hold on, do we need the leaves or the petals?" the canary whispered.

Red blinked, having never thought of that. "Let's just take the whole thing," he answered quickly, taking a handful of flowers and stuffing them inside the bag. Chuck stepped closer and began helping him so they could finish quickly.

"Okay, I think this should be enough. Let's get out of here," Red said as he closed the bag. The two slowly turned around to leave when suddenly...

 _ **CRACK!**_

Red felt his feathers stand on end and looked down at the branch he accidently stepped on.

The black bird shifted in its sleep and just when Red was hoping it didn't hear them, its grey eyes opened startling the two.

Red felt his blood run cold as the creature stood up and towered over them, looking even bigger than he previously thought. It spread its wing and stretched its long neck while glaring down almost hungrily at them with colorless eyes.

It looked like something strait out of a nightmare.

"RUN!" Chuck screamed as he grabbed Red's hand and pulled him to where Bomb was. Without a second thought, the three began running away.

Red hadn't been more terrified in his life as he heard the black behemoth let out an unearthly screeched that shook the air and began chasing after them.

"Greedy ugly thing! You have an entire grove of these flowers. Why can't we have some!?" Chuck wailed as the three sprinted down the path they came from.

Red dared a looked behind and immediately felt his heart hammering in his chest when saw the creature was gaining on them. It clearly wasn't planning on giving up on its prey.

The three birds picked up the pace and ran faster through the trees, some stray branches whipping them in the face while the creature moved through them as if they were _nothing!_

Red looked at his two friends. Despite the fear in his eyes, Chuck didn't look he was having much trouble running, but when Red looked back he saw Bomb was a bit behind.

"Bomb hurry, it's getting closer!" he shouted.

"I'm trying!" Bomb exclaimed breathlessly.

Red frowned as he tried to think of a plan. He knew they can't run forever and sooner or later one of them might caught. Finding no other solution, Red stopped running and turned to face the incoming monster.

"Red, what are you doing!?" Chuck gasped.

"Back away now!" Red shouted to his friends as he felt the same fiery feeling he had grown familiar with coursing through him and he fully embraced it. His feathers suddenly began glowing brightly and sparks erupted from his body.

Just when the creature was close enough, Red growled and swung his hand causing a wall of flame to burst from the ground, startling the creature and blocking its way to them.

The giant bird let out another ear-piercing shriek, but didn't dare to take a step forward. Chuck and Bomb hurried to Red who was trying to catch his breath.

"Are you alright, Red?" Bomb asked in concern.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." He answered, feeling a little winded.

"Red, that was amazing!" Chuck exclaimed, staring at him in awe.

Red blinked in surprise. He never thought anyone would find anything about his powers "amazing". They were always more like a burden to him than anything.

"Thanks, but it's not gonna hold up for long. We need to leave now!" Red said urgently. Wasting no time, the trio hurried down the path towards the edge of the swamp.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Stella's friends meanwhile were still at the hospital, waiting for Red and the others to come back with the cure. The sun had already set.

"It's getting late. They should've been back by now." Willow stated worriedly. They were starting to wonder if something bad happened to them.

A couple of minutes later, they heard Poppy calling out. "Guys, they're back!" she exclaimed and everyone perked up.

"We got the flowers!" Red muttered excitedly as he and his two friends came inside.

"And we almost got mauled and eaten to get them," Chuck added, much to everyone's confusion.

The doctor walked over and took the bag from Red, peering inside it. "Yes, these are the ones. Thank you boys. I'll start working on the cure right away." He said and went to another room.

Red sighed in relief at this, but then was startled when he heard someone clearing their throat. He turned back to see the four girls standing behind him awkwardly.

"Red, we owe you an apology for the way we treated you at the lake. It was wrong of us," Dahlia said. The girls then glanced at Gale who had her arms crossed.

"What?" Gale muttered and Poppy nudged her. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry for calling you a freak earlier. I shouldn't have said that," she admitted.

Red blushed sheepishly. "It's okay, I'm not mad at any of you. It's not like you heard any good things about me from the village." He said and the girl shared uneasy looks with each other.

Over the last hour, they all sat down and the girls introduced themselves to Red. He also got to catch up with Chuck and Bomb on everything he missed during his banishment.

Suddenly, the door to the other room opened and the doctor walked in. "Everyone, she's waking up!" he said smiling.

Without hesitation, Red and the others hurried inside the room to find Stella slowly opening her eyes.

"Where….where am I?" she mumbled groggily.

"STELLA!" she was suddenly swarmed by her friends who pulled her into a group hug.

"We were so worried about you!" Poppy muttered.

"Don't you ever do something like that again, darling," Gale huffed, trying to hide the relief in her voice.

"Guys, what's going on? Why am I here?" she then squinted behind them. "Wait a minute…..RED!?" she gasped, worried and confused. What was he doing in the village? Why her friends were calm around him?

It took them about five minutes to explain everything that happened while she was unconscious.

"We're sorry for the way we acted earlier today, Stella." Willow said guiltily.

"Yeah, we were huge jerks." Poppy added.

Stella smiled at them. "It's alright. I already forgave you guys," she then turned to Red and his two friends. "And thank you three so much for saving me."

"Hey, don't mention it. We're just glad you're okay." Chuck said. Red and Bomb nodded.

Suddenly, there was someone banging frantically on the door. Everyone exchanged confused.

"I wonder who that is," the doctor opened the door to find almost every bird in village waiting outside. None of them looked happy at all.

"See? I told you it's him!" an old blue bird yelled, pointing at Red accusingly. A green bird stepped from the crowd with his arms behind his back.

"So it's true, the exile really is back." Jeffrey, head of the bird council said with distain.

Red shifted nervously under their gazes, unsure of what to do. "Look, I had no choice. I-"

He cut him off. "Save your excuses. I thought we made it clear to you that you're not welcomed here, Mr. Red. This is no longer you're home and you shouldn't have come back."

"Yeah, he's probably here to hurt us!" another bird said accusingly and there were murmurs of agreement from the crowds.

"Wait, you guys don't understand." Poppy stated.

"Yeah, calm down. Red isn't here to hurt anyone." Bomb tried to explain and council birds glared at him.

"Stay out of this. You don't know how much damage this bird can cause. He may act friendly in front of you, but he's capable of many horrible things. He shouldn't be allowed to be anywhere near this village-"

"SHUT UP!" Stella shouted, silencing everyone. Heavy silence fell on the crowd as they stared at the fuming pink bird.

"You have no right to talk about Red that way when you don't even know him at all!" she shouted.

"Don't side with him. He burned three houses and injured four bystanders!" Jeffrey said pointedly at Red who flinched at the mention of his rampage.

Stella glared back. "It wasn't intentional and he already told me he felt bad about it." She said.

Jeffery scoffed. "Lies, he would tell you anything to cover up his actions. Besides, why are all even defending this menace?"

"Because he's our friend and he also saved my life." She stated, surprising everyone in the crowd. Even the council birds looked baffled at her admission.

"Just earlier today, I was stung by a green wasp in forest and Red found me unconscious. He then took me to the doctor and even went to look for a cure for me."

"This is the same guy you all described as an evil heartless bird, the same one you spent years telling us about how much of a monster he is. Red could've just left me there, he could've just not care, but he instead risked his own life to save mine." Stella said and smiled at Red who looked at a loss of words.

"They're telling the truth, sir." The doctor stated.

Jeffery stammered. "Bu-But what about the things he done!"

"Stella already told you. He didn't mean any of it." Chuck stepped in with a firm look in his eyes. "Those birds were picking on him constantly and he lashed out, but c'mon who wouldn't?"

"Red wasn't a bad guy back then, he was just a bird with anger issues and powers he couldn't control. All he needed was a little help." Bomb stated, standing next to the three.

Stella crossed her arms. "But instead of trying to understand him and help him, you guys sent him to a place where he can't find any help to control his anger and made everyone think he was a monster."

By now everyone along with the crowds were giving the members of the council resentful, disapproving looks.

Jeffrey gulped. "Now look….we were only trying to fix the problem…and-and…I..." Realizing anything he'd say was pointless, he tried to bolt away only to slam face first into something huge and feathery.

Looking up, he squirmed nervously under the angry gaze of Terrance.

Red sighed in relief, glad it was over. He then turned to his friends. "Thanks for standing for me, guys."

Chuck walked over and slung his arm around Red's shoulder. "Hey, we made the mistake of letting them banish you all those years ago, well…not this time."

Stella watched the two with a smile when a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"Hello Stella," she turned around in surprise to see Matilda giving her a knowing look. "So, you came to my class to fix your anger problem that you clearly don't have from what I saw during your visits and now I find out you have a friend who has anger issues?"

Stella flinched and looked down, feeling a bang of guilt in her chest. "I'm sorry for lying to you. I just wanted to help Red."

"It's alright, I've always kind of known. You're not a great liar, you know." she said with a smirk, making the pink bird blush in embarrassment.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **A week later.**_

"H-Hey, careful with that, it's fragile!" Red warned as he watched birds carrying boxes from his house. They were moving them to his new one in the village.

"Sorry," Hal said as he and Bubbles walked away with more care.

Red looked back at his friends. "You guys really don't have to do this."

"What? Of course, we do! We're not gonna let you carry all this stuff back to the village on your own!" Chuck exclaimed.

"Yeah, what kind of friends that would make us?" Bomb muttered.

"Seriously, you don't need to-"

"Look, Red. We are doing this, whether you like it or not." Stella cut him off while carrying a box filled with books.

Red sighed in defeat, seeing no point in arguing with them. He quickly stepped aside when Terrance walked over with his kitchen table, making this the third time Red sees him coming back for something else.

 _How could a bird so huge could move around so fast?_ Red thought, completely baffled.

"Wow, this looks beautiful." Willow said, holding one of Red's figurine's in her hands.

"You can keep it if you want." Red smiled.

"Really? Thanks!" Willow muttered before going back to help the others.

Red then glanced over to his old house, the realization that he was leaving this place for good finally settling in. He lived here for a long time and got used to this place.

He could still recall the day when he first came to this forest fifteen years ago. He was alone, miserable and angry at everyone in the village, but also feeling guilty, betrayed and unwanted by his own best friends.

 _But things changed. You got your friends back. You can go back home now._

The thought made him smile a little.

"Red, c'mon we're done!" Chuck called out.

"I'm coming!" Red yelled back. He then made his way to the house and closed the door for what seemed to be the last time before hurrying after his friends.

Red had always thought someone like him couldn't have anything like this, didn't deserve anything like this, but he was proven wrong.

And he was glad of that.

Later that night, Red, Chuck and Bomb sneaked into the beach to spend the night there, something used to do when they were kids.

They chose a perfect spot, placed two logs to sit on and began collecting wood for the fire.

"Hey Red, do you mind?" Chuck said, gesturing to the fire place.

Red rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, setting the wood on fire.

"Phew, that saved us a lot of time. I could get used to this." Chuck grinned, rubbing his hands together against the fire.

"So you're using me as an excuse to be lazy?" Red asked, raising eye brow.

"Why put any effort when you have a living fire maker right here?" Chuck replied.

"I really feel like hitting you right now," Red deadpanned.

"Guys, cut it out." Bomb said with a smile while preparing their dinner.

"Hey guys!"

The three looked up to see Stella coming their way.

"How did you know we were here?" Red asked.

"I was looking through my window when I saw you guys heading here and I decided to see what you were up to." She explained. "Mind if I join you?"

"Nope," Red said and made room for her next to him and Chuck. The four then began sharing stories and laughing under the moonlight, watching embers from the fire rise to the air.

Red gazed at the starry sky and smiled. He was finally home and this time, he will never leave.

 **The End**

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: And done! I can't believe this story is finally completed and I'm really glad that many of you enjoyed it.**

 **Now I would like to thank everyone who reviewed for Someone Like Me.**

 **EndHazomGurl**

 **Red262**

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 **And all guests**

 **See you next time!**


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